School-based racial segregation, social support, and late-life cognitive function in the Study of Healthy Aging in African Americans (STAR).

INTRODUCTION

School-based social support for Black students may mediate or modify the association between school segregation and late-life cognition.

METHODS

Study of Healthy Aging in African Americans participants (n = 574) reported segregated school attendance and school-based social support. Associations of segregated schooling with domain-specific cognitive outcomes and effect modification or mediation by school-based social support were evaluated with linear mixed models.

RESULTS

Segregated school attendance was associated with increased likelihood of school-based social support. Segregated (vs. desegregated in 6th grade) school attendance was associated with lower executive function (β = -0.18 [-0.34, -0.02]) and semantic memory z-scores (β = -0.31 [-0.48, -0.13]). Social support did not mediate these associations. Estimates for segregated school attendance were attenuated among those who felt supported, although there was limited evidence of statistically significant effect modification.

DISCUSSION

Early-childhood school segregation was associated with poorer cognitive function. Sources of resilience within racialized educational experiences should be further evaluated to bridge inequities.

HIGHLIGHTS

School segregation is a form of structural racism that affected the educational experiences of Black youth with potentially lasting consequences for healthy brain aging. Black students who attended a segregated school experienced greater school-based social support, which may highlight a potential source of resilience and resistance against the effects of racism-related stressors on cognitive function. The estimated adverse association between attending a segregated school on cognition was larger for students without an adult at school who cared about them versus those with an adult at school who cared about them, but estimates were imprecise.